An Only Child
by Aubz8801
Summary: Maria Jhonson has no idea what she has in store. All she knows is that her father is dead, and her step-mom is an abusive alcoholic. But a trip to a Greek history museum can change all of that. Jason comes along, rescues her like a knight in shining armor, and sweeps her off her feet to Camp Half Blood. But who is her godly parent?
1. Chapter 1

Maria's pov

The bell rung when I was halfway up the stairs. "Crap!" I whispered. Late, again to history.

Mr. Brunner sat in the front of the classroom in his electric wheelchair.

"Okay class!" he brought them to attention. I walked in, trying not to draw any acknowledgment from the rest of the class.

"Maria Jhonson." Mr. Brunner said. CRAP! I screamed in my mind. "Welcome to history," was all he said. I silently thanked him and sat down in the last chair in the back corner.

I opened my history book to the number drawn on the board. The page was filled with Greek letters, drawings, statues, and information. Yes! I love Greek mythology! I couldn't read it, thanks to my dyslexia, but surprisingly the Greek I could actually read. The letters floated off the page then rearranged into English.

"Today we will learn about the 12 major gods and goddesses." Mr. Brunner announced. I stayed focus almost the entire time, which is nearly impossible when you're like me and you also have ADHD. Yay. I was so intrigued I only got distracted a few times. The color of that bird is beautiful! I'm sorry, what was I saying?

Before I knew it, the bell rang. "Remember!" Mr. Brunner said over people gathering up their books. "Tomorrow we go to the Greek museum. Remember your permission slips!"

I slowly packed up, dreading my next class. Uhg. Math. Math with Ms. Dodds was _not_ pretty. Besides, I couldn't read crap.

I didn't even know where the rest of the day went. Soon I was boarding the bus.

I sat down in a random seat, dazed. I daydreamed how my step-mother would react if I showed her the permission slip for the museum. She'd probably say, 'What do you want me to do, sign it? I don't care where you go or if you even get back.' Then she'd send me to the store for me to buy her more alcohol or something. I guess that's not exactly a dream, more like a nightmare. A day-nightmare. I didn't even notice someone shaking me.

"Maria!" I heard someone shout. I looked to see it was Kevin, my one and only best friend. He had a worried look on his face. "Maria, are you ok?" he asked

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

"Are you sure?" His hand brushed something off my cheek. I looked and saw it was water.

"Crap…" I hadn't even realized I was crying. I guess I let my emotions get the better of me, yet again.

" I don't think you are," he said, looking straight into my eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, just day dreaming about Ann when I give her the permission slip." Ann was my step-mother.

Kevin got that look on his face that read 'I'm so sorry'. I got it a lot. Then it changed. It turned into a look of optimism. "Why don't we go to the park? I'll buy us some coffees, and we can talk." It sounded like the perfect afternoon. By that I mean anything but going home.

"That sounds fantastic." I said, wiping off the rest of my tears with the sleeve of my sweater.

We got off the nearest stop to Rochester park. It was about a block away, so we walked, talking about our day. Before the entrance to the park, there was a coffee shop. Kevin went in and came back out a few minutes later. I sipped from my cup. It was black with a little cream, my favorite. Kevin knows how I like it.

We arrived at the park and walked the grass, talking about everything. The moon raised and it got dark. We walked back and hailed a taxi. I hugged and waved goodbye to Kevin. I watched the taxi drive off. My apartment complex towered high above me.

"Here we go," I whispered.

I slowly and quietly opened the door. Ann was passed out on the couch, definitely drunk. I crept to my room and laid down fully clothed. Sleep over came me before I could even take off my shoes.

I awoke to the regular sound of my alarm clock. "6:00 am" it read. I got up and realized I was still clothed. I changed, brushed my teeth, and put my hair in a sloppy bun. I ran out the door, knowing Ann would have the biggest hangover ever.

I climbed on the bus and sat in an empty seat. I wish Kevin was in my history class with me. That would make my life so much easier.

The bus driver started driving to the Greek history museum. This was going to be so much fun! Sense the sarcasm? When we arrived I was the last one off the bus. Mr. Brunner sat by the door to greet us and collect our permission slips.

"Hello Maria!" he said with a smile that looked like he was actually glad to see me. It was so unfamiliar seeing that on a face that wasn't Kevin's. "Permission slip?" he asked. He looked down at my empty hands then back at me. We had a silent conversation with our eyes saying;

'Your permission slip…?' he asked.

'No… and I think you know why.'

He nodded I walked in the building, following the rest of the crowd.

It was like I was walking into some kind of weird Greek fantasy land. Huge 30 ft statues toward over everything. 12 statues sat in thrones in this horse shoe looking thing. Each throne matched the god's personality. Poseidon's was waves with a fishing pole holder, Hades' covered in skulls. At the base of each statue it had the name of the god in Greek. I shouldn't be able to with my dyslexia, but I could read all of them.

I wasn't listening to the tour, until everyone was looking at me like they were expecting something. "What?" I asked. They snickered amongst themselves.

"What is the proper name of a child that is half mortal, and half god?" the tour guide asked. Instantly I knew the answer, but waited a few seconds before answering.

"A demigod," I said confidently. For some reason I felt so familiar with the word, even though I've only said it a few times. She smiled, but not a regular smile. She showed her teeth, which were pointy like an animal's. Her eyes flashed with fire. I shivered. No one else seemed phased by it, so I decided my eyes were playing tricks on me.

we walked out onto a balcony. The tour guide talked about crap that didn't even make sense, so I tuned her out. I walked to the edge of the balcony and looked over the side. It looked to be about a 600 ft drop. I gulped and nearly puked every where. I'm _terrified_ of heights. I could feel my face grow pale. I stepped away, trying not to draw attention.

"Is there something wrong Ms. Jhonson?" the tour guide asked. All eyes turned towards me. I tried to keep from bolting to the exit.

"No, I'm fine." I said. "Wait… how did you know my name?" I tried not to sound suspicious, but who couldn't? She flashed me that evil smile again.

I didn't even register the next things that happened. Somehow the tour guide turned into a bat thing, my classmates were melting, and then I was falling off the balcony. The ground was rushing to meet me, and I couldn't do anything about it. I screamed at the top of my lungs, knowing it was my last words. Then I felt arms close around me, and I stopped falling. I just levitated in mid air. I looked up and saw a boy about my age, with blond hair and electric blue eyes. He looked at me and smiled. I got lost in his eyes and smile, like my heart was melting. The entire world stopped and it was just him and I. I relaxed. I looked down dreamily, then realized there was still a 200 ft drop below me. I yelped. I squeezed the boy so tight he probably couldn't breath.

"Afraid of heights?" he asked

"M-hm!" I breathed. He chuckled a bit. We started flying up. Yes, flying. I thought I was hallucinating. There's no way this is real. But the feeling of his arms around me, the wind on my face, it had to be.

We landed softly on the balcony. A few more people were there. There was melted wax and gold dust everywhere. Being so frazzled, I proceeded to pass out.


	2. Chapter 2

Past

Jason's pov

We arrived at the museum the same time the group we were following did. There was this one girl in the back of the group that really caught my eye. Everything they went over in their tour she would linger and marvel at until someone would call her back. She had golden brown hair, from all I could see. I imagined her face, and every time I changed it, it was still beautiful. Even thought I hadn't even seen her from the front, I knew she was all kinds of pretty. Like, Aphrodite pretty. Wow, I probably just got cursed for saying that.

The group walked out onto the balcony. She looked over the edge, then backed away obviously terrified. The tour guide singled her out and asked her a question.

"Is there something wrong, Ms. Jhonson?" So her last name is Jhonson…

"No, I'm fine," she said. her voice was like silk. I probably blushed. Percy elbowed me in the arm, then smiled. I shot him an angry look and blushed again. He smiled and whispered something to Annabeth. She rolled her eyes and giggled.

Then everyone started screaming. We all immediately jumped in and let our battle reflexes take over. The tour guide turned into a fury. Percy turned white and charged it. Bad memories, I guess. All the other people started melting. Yes, melting. I have no idea why. The fury cornered the girl and pushed her over the fence. I could hear her blood curdling screams. I jumped off after her.

Who would've known this museum was on a cliff? It was at least a 600ft drop, but this was nothing compared to stuff I've jumped off. I caught up with her at about 200 ft from the ground. I closed my arms around her and muffled the air under us. We levitated there for a few seconds. She looked up at me. I could finally see her face. She had blue eyes like a mountain stream, soft, light pink lips and a perfectly carved jaw. She was nothing like I had imagined- she was even prettier. But there was a look of pure terror in her eyes. Then she relaxed, and the look went away. I smiled. She looked better when she wasn't terrified. I almost leaned in to kiss her, then remembered we were still in mid air. I flew back to the balcony. There was melted wax of what used to be the group, and gold dust. I looked at Percy, who was covered in scratches. Annabeth was eating some ambrosia and handed Percy some nectar. I landed softly on the cement. The girl passed out in my

arms. I laid her down gently on the ground.

Maria's pov

I woke up on a bed. The boy that saved my life stood next to me, smiling. The other two people stood next to him.

"W-where am I?" I asked quietly.

"Camp Half Blood." the boy said. "What's your name?"

"Maria Jhonson."

"Nice name. I'm Jason grace, and this is Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase," Jason said.

"Hi…" I said weakly. My mouth felt dry and my throat hurt, like I hadn't drunken anything for a week. And I felt super gross, like I hadn't showered in forever.

So, descriptions: Percy had black hair and sea green eyes, and Annabeth had blond hair and grey eyes. Jason had blond hair and electric blue eyes that anyone could get lost in… I'm sorry, what was I saying?

"Camp Half Blood?" I asked.

"Yep." Percy said.

"You know the Greek gods?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah!" I said, getting excited.

"Well, they're real. You know the story about how gods would have children with mortals, and have demigods. Well, that's real too, and your a demigod." she finished.

"Ugh." I sunk into the bed and pulled the sheet up to my nose. That's not possible. They can't be real. This was too much. "That's not possible. They cant be real. They're just myths." I said.

"Sorry, but they are real." Percy said. I really wanted to punch him right now.

"Can I have a drink?" I asked.

"Sure, I'll get it." Jason said. He ran off and then came back with a glass of apple juice.

I sat up, but to quickly. My head spun, "Ugh." Jason gave me the drink. Our fingers touched and I swear I felt sparks. I lightly blushed and took the drink. Expecting apple juice, I got the local bakery's homemade fudge. I nearly choked. "What is this?!" I asked, coughing.

"Nectar." Jason said.

"From, like, a plant?"

"No! its the nectar of the gods."

"Then why does it taste like the bakery fudge?"

"It's like a comfort drink, so it takes like whatever's comforting to you."

I drank the rest of it, savoring the flavor.

"Can I have some more?" I asked.

"No. If you drink to much you'll blow up."

"Oh." I sat the glass down on the night stand.

Jason chuckled. "C'mon, I'll show you around camp." He grabbed my hand and helped me out of bed, then led me out of the infirmary. And again, I felt sparks. I ran out of there, blushing.

Jason's pov

I grabbed Maria's hand and helped her out of bed. I swear I felt sparks.

We ran out of the infirmary. She marveled at the woods, strawberry fields, and the sword fighting arena.

We ran to what I call the cabin horse shoe.

"This is what I call the cabin horse shoe. there's all the cabins according to your godly parent. Until your claimed, you'll be in the Hermes cabin."

"Claimed?" she asked with a confused look.

"When you're claimed, your godly parent claims you as their child. C'mon, I'll show you my cabin." I lead her to the Zeus cabin.

She walked in, and I could see her eyes widen.

"Your dad is Zeus?"

"Yep. You'll be claimed soon, I promise. You're 16, so you should've been claimed a long time ago, but…" I trailed off. "So which one is your mortal parent?"

She sighed. "My dad. He died when I was 5, and I've been with Ann ever since. Mom left when I was a baby, but dad never told me why. He just said, 'Your mom had to leave, for reasons you don't understand. But she loved you very much. It was probably the hardest thing she's ever done, leaving you.'" she sighed again. It looked like she might cry. It must've struck a tender chord.

"So… Ann?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, my beloved step mother." Sarcasm.

"So why are you with her?"

"Well, when Dad died, I had to stay with her. She dealt with his death with alcohol, and now is an extremely abusive alcoholic."

I brushed my thumb over a scar on her right cheek, just below her eye. She winced when I touched it. "What happened there?"

"Ann was drunk, like always. I came home from a friend's house late, and we started fighting. She slapped me, and just to my luck and a ring on. Blood went everywhere, and she didn't even care. I still haven't gotten out this one stain in the living room carpet, and every time I walk by it reminds me. But it also reminds me to try not to fight, and it's made me a better person. So, I guess you could say it's good."

I just looked at her. After all she's been through, she's like this today. Beautiful, smart, caring. Wait- what am I saying? I've know her for a day.

She searched my eyes. I searched hers. I'm about to lean in when the dinner sound rings.

I lean back, trying NOT to make this awkward. I stuck out my arm. "Shall I walk you to dinner?"

She laced her arm through mine. "You shall!" she giggled as we walked out of the cabin. We walked to dinner, arm in arm the entire time.

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	3. Chapter 3

Maria's pov

We walked to dinner, arm in arm, not caring about the looks we got from other campers. I decided to sit at the Zeus table with lonely Jason, and not at the crampt and over filled Hermes.

I scraped some food off into the fire.

"Please mom, who ever you are, please just give me a sign. Or better yet claim me!" I whispered, then sat back down.

I sat next to Jason.

"So what's it like being claimed?" I asked him.

"Its not anything that special," he said drinking his blue drink stuff, that for some reason tasted super good. "The symbol of your parent appears over your head and your claimed. If your a child of Aphrodite she gives you a eternity makeover and you can never take off the makeup, but that's pretty much it."

"Hm. I thought it'd be a lot worse then that." I said.

"What do you mean-" but he was cut off by a terrifying scream. A girl ran into the dining hall and ran right up to Chiron. She had a look of terror on her face. She whispered something to him and his face hardened. He stood up. The room was dead silent.

"Alright campers! Our boarders are trying to be breached! Prepare for battle!" All the campers ran out screaming war cries. Jason and I were the last ones out. As we walked out the door, Chiron's face fell with concern.

Jason's pov

We ran to Half Blood hill. Standing there, pounding at the borders was a dragon. Yep, a dragon. It was twice the size of our dragon and was covered in scales that were probably harder than armor. The entire Ares cabin charged, but they were no match for it. They beat and stabbed it, but it was no use.

"Jason, what the heck is going on?" Maria shouted over the screams.

"Well, as you can see there's a dragon right there! If we don't fight it off it will breach the camps borders and probably destroy everything!" I yelled. Her face went pale, but just for a second.

"Lets do this," she said with rage in her voice. She started squeezing her way to the front of the crowd. Wait, did her eyes just flash with fire?! I decided I was hallucinating and followed her.

"Move!" she shouted at a son of Ares. She tried to shove him but couldn't.

"No way!" he shouted at her. Now that made me mad. Who was he to yell at Maria?!

She flashed her fiery eyes at him. His eyes widened, and he backed out of the way.

Maria stood in front of the dragon.

"Yo dragon!" she yelled. It didn't acknowledge her, so she tried again.

"Yo ugly!" She flew up so she was eye level with his face. Yeah, _flew_, like how I fly.

"What the-!" I shouted. When everyone noticed her, the crowd grew silent.

"No one messes with _MY_ camp." We could hear her say. The dragon had a confused look, but got cut off.

Maria started to shoot fire out of her hands like a human flame thrower. The dragon was completely engulfed now, roaring and squirming. I stared at Maria with my mouth open in horror and awe. The dragon started to cough.

"Crap, she'll blow up the whole hill!" Percy said, coming up next to me. I looked up. The trees above us were invisible because of the black smoke coming off the dragon. The dragon roared again, then collapsed, shaking the entire hill.

Maria cut off the flames. Everyone stared at her in awe. She fell backward and started to fall.

"MARIA!" I shouted, but I couldn't of gotten there in time. She hit the ground, _hard_, with a thud. I picked her up bridal style. She was half conscious.

"Jason…" she whispered with a week smile.

"You did it, Maria. You saved the camp!" I said.

"That's good…" Then she passed out.

"I need three Apollo kids, ambrosia, and nectar pronto!" I said to the crowd. Three kids rushed up with handfuls and jugs of ambrosia and nectar. We ran to the infirmary.

I laid her down on a bed, and stepped back. The kids started tending to her wounds. When they were finished wrapping some gashes and feeding her ambrosia, they turned to me.

"Do you know how she did that?" the girl asked me. i just shook my head.

"She's lucky she survived that fall, and its remarkable the small number of wounds she has." The boy looked at me. "Any other person would probably be dead from doing that

then falling 30 ft. She's a special one," he said.

A twang of jealousy went through me as I watched him wrap her so gently and caringly. He stroked her arm. Obviously my face showed it, because when he looked up at me he backed off. Yeah, that's right, he knows the things I could do to him if he messed with _MY_ girl.

The Apollo kids left and I stayed. I was not leaving Maria's side. I sat on a stool next to bed and held her hand. I stroked her hair and thought about what she did. How is that even possible? She must be a goddess or something. I sighed. If she was a goddess she would SO NOT be interested in a guy like me.

I held some nectar up to her lips and poured it. She was so pretty when she slept. She was so relaxed. She's never looked this calm and at peace.

She gasped and her eyes flew open. She shot up right and nearly squeezed me to death in a hug.

"Oh Jason!" she said as she cried into my shoulder.

"What what?!" I asked.

"I had a terrible dream! You were there, and Percy and Annabeth and we were somewhere dark and I couldn't find you and then I heard you scream and then I saw your dead body and…" She sobbed into my shirt.

"It's ok…" I cradled her like a baby until she stopped crying.

"Promise me we'll never go somewhere dark like that. I don't want to loose you!" She looked as if she was honestly crying over my dead body.

"I promise I won't. I don't want to loose you either," I said. She looked at me with her regular water blue eyes.

"Really?" she said and blushed.

"Yeah." I blushed back.

She hugged me again. "C'mon, its getting late." I said.

" I don't want to sleep in the Hermes cabin," she pouted.

"I know just where."

Everyone had already gone to sleep. We snuck around the other cabins and walked in the one next door to mine.

"The Hera cabin?" she asked.

"Well, its the only cabin other than mine that is empty. I'm not allowed in the Artemis cabin, so…" I said.

"Cool," was all she said.

"Well… I'm gonna head off to the Zeus cab-"

"No," she said.

"What?"

"I told you. You're not leaving me."

"Maria, I'll be right next door. Besides, I don't think Hera would be too happy if a son of Zeus slept in her cabin."

"I don't care." She was right in front of me now, our chests almost touching. "You're not leaving me." She leaned in, and so did I. As our lips touched it was like wildfire. My mind went all fuzzy and the only thing I knew was she was there, kissing me, right now.

She broke apart. "You're not leaving me." I could almost her a hint of charmspeak in her voice. That's not possible, though. How could she shoot fire and have charmspeak?

I nodded dumbly and she laughed. Hey, maybe she could be a daughter of Aphrodite. You never know.

She finally convinced me to sleep in the Hera cabin.

"Fine, but you're taking the bed." I said. No charmspeak could keep me from being a gentleman.

"Okay, as long as you stay here," she said with a smile. She took all the pillows and blankets off the bed except one and put them all on the floor. She laid then out into a pallet and then motioned for me to lay down. I did as she told me. It was surprisingly super comfortable.

Maria laid on the bed with nothing but a pillow. I pulled the blanket from on top of me and tried to offer it to her, but she shook her head.

"C'mon Maria, take it." I pleaded.

"No. Go to sleep," she ordered

Crap, charmspeak! I fell dead asleep.

Maria's pov

Jason tried to offer me his blanket. I shook my head.

"C'mon Maria, take it," he pleaded.

"No. Go to sleep," I ordered.

He fell dead asleep. For some reason he had been doing what I'd told him lately, like he was under some kind of spell. Oh well, it's not like I don't mind that!

"You know, I don't particularly like children of Zeus in my cabin," said a woman's voice.

I sat their, paralyzed in my bed. A glowing figured appeared in the middle of the cabin, then turned into a regular person.

"My lady!" I said jumping out of bed and kneeling. Standing in front of me was queen of the gods, Hera.

"Rise child. Why would I make my daughter kneel before me?"

It didn't register for a few seconds. "D-daughter?" I stuttered.

"Yes, Maria Jhonson, you are my daughter." She looked over my head. I followed her eyes. It was her symbol, the peacock thing.

"Claimed…" I whispered.

"Yes, you are now claimed as my daughter."

"But I thought you were lawfully wedded to Zeus?" I asked.

"Well, yes, being the goddess of marriage and family and such, you'd think I'd stay faithful. And I have! Its Zeus that hasn't! For thousands of years, I've watched him claim so many demigods, and I'm getting tired of it. Here, why don't I just show you how it all went down?"

A orb appeared in front of me.

"Put your hands on it and it will show you the flash back," she said, sitting down on the bed. I did as she said.

I was transported to Olympus. In front of me stood Zeus and Hera.

"You claimed another demigod?!" she shouted at him.

"Yes, I claimed my daughter! She has a name, you know, and it's Thalia!" he yelled back.

"For thousands of years, I have stayed faithful to you, and this is how you repay me? For thousands of years, I've watched you claim demigods like you had multiple women lined up! I'm not allowed to leave Olympus that often, much less have children with multiple men!"

Right then, I thought Zeus would strike her with his master bolt, but he controlled himself.

"Fine, I grant you permission to have one demigod. But with that promise, I get one too!"

"Oh, so now you control how many kids I have?! Fine! I accept your offer! But this next

demigod of yours will pay!" She disappeared into a flash of light, and then was gone. Zeus sat on his throne, exasperated.

"Then I will have to make him stronger," he whispered.

I was back in my cabin. Hera sat on the bed, relaxing.

"So now you know how you came to be," she said with a smile. "After the fight, I came down to earth. I was here a few months before I found your father. He was a wonderful man. I cried and cried for hours when Hades told me he took his soul. I almost retrieved him when he warned me that he would just die again from his illness. I visited him in the underworld a few times, but then he accepted a new life and was born again. I still remember his face, the last time he said goodbye…" In the dark, I could see a single tear flow down her face. "You're lucky I picked him to be your dad," she said with a smile and winked. "Well, it's getting time for me to go."

"No! You just got here! Please explain a few more things to me?" I pleaded.

She looked around. "Fine… but 10 more minutes. Ask any questions."

"What are my powers?" was the first thing that came out.

"Well, from what I know you have many. Your eye color changes with your emotions."

"But they've been blue my entire life."

"No, they have, you just haven't noticed it. Your emotions change quickly, so they're a different color for a second, then they go back to their regular color."

"So this blue is my regular color?"

"Yes, but a lot of times they're a darker navy blue."

"What emotion is that?"

"Sadness, sorrow."

"Oh…" I trailed off. I hadn't noticed it before, but yeah, sometimes my eyes are darker than usual.

"What color were my eyes when I slayed the dragon?"

"They were a deep brown, almost black, and they flashed with fire."

"What kind of emotion is that?"

"Not mad, but much worse. Like a murderous rage, or your about to kill someone or something that hurt something or," she glanced at Jason, "someone you love."

"What about when I'm relieved, or something like that?"

"A bright green, maybe with a hint of gold or silver."

"Frustrated, or exasperated?"

"Hazel, maybe a light hazel."

"Fear?"

"A deep brown, but not like the murderous rage brown."

"In love?" I asked quietly.

She chuckled. "Silver, maybe a bluish sliver."

I blushed. I glanced at Jason, who stirred in his sleep. I knew my eyes were silver. I didn't need a mirror.

"Why can I shoot fire?" I asked turning back.

"You have many powers. Fire is one of them."

"Can I only do it when I'm mad?"

"You can do it anytime. You just have to will the heat to come out of your hands, and then you're shooting fire. But beware, it might take a few tries to get it under control."

"What about the wind, why can I fly, and can I control it like Jason does?"

"I'm the wife of Zeus, of course you can fly and control the wind. You have all the powers Jason has."

"Can I control water or raise the dead?"

She rolled her eyes, "I'm the wife of Zeus, not Poseidon or Hades." I frowned. She laughed. "I'm just kidding. Them being Zeus' brothers, he has their blood, and I got a share of that when i married him. so you probably got a few aspects of your uncles."

"Awesome!" I was so excited! I'm probably the most powerful demigod in camp!

"But take caution, use your powers wisely. If you over use or abuse your powers, you could end up hurting yourself or others."

"How could I 'over use' them?" I asked.

"I'm sorry. I can tell you no more. I must go."

"But I have so many more questions!" I whined.

She smiled and stood up next to me. "The rest you will have to find out on your own. It will come in due time." She hugged me and kissed my forehead.

"I love you, mom." I whispered.

"I love you too, Maria."

"Wait! Who was the next demigod that you'd said 'he'll pay'?" I hurriedly asked, before she could disappear.

Hera didn't answer, but smiled. She disappeared in a flash of light.

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**How'd y'all like it? Please review!**

**~Aubz**

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	4. Chapter 4

Jason's pov

I kept trying to will my eyes open, but the charm speak kept them closed. I could see a burst of light behind my eyes, then I finally opened them.

"Maria?" I asked quietly. She came over to me. "What was that?"

"What?"

"That flash of light." She didn't answer. "C'mon, tell me!"

"Nothing. you must've imagined it," she said. It was obvious she was lying.

"I can tell your lying. Tell me the truth!"

She looked around, as if to see if any body was near. "Promise not to tell anyone?" she asked in a hushed voice. I nodded. She looked around again. "Okay… Hera was here…" She paused. "And she claimed me as her daughter," she whispered.

My eyes widened. "WHA-" I shouted, but she clamped her hand over my mouth.

"Why don't you just wake up the whole camp!" she whisper-shouted. I calmed down.

"That explains a lot. No other god could be your parent with those kinds of powers."

She nodded. "Don't tell a soul. Promise?"

"I promise."

"No, swear on the River Styx."

Was it really this important I don't tell anyone? "I swear on the River Styx to not reveal who you godly parent is."

"Good. We should probably get some sleep." She glanced at the clock. "It's 3 o'clock in the morning." She bent over and kissed my cheek. "Sweet dreams, Jason." Again, I was charm spoken asleep. But this time, it wasn't a harsh command, more like a soft plead.

I woke up to the site of Maria sprawled out over the bed. She had gone to sleep pretty late, so i decided to not wake her.

I tiptoed to the Zeus cabin. No one was awake yet. I changed clothes, brushed my teeth and went back to the cabin next door.

Maria still lay asleep on her bed. she looked so peaceful and comforted. ive never seen her like this. i sat on the edge of her bed.

"So this is her cabin…" I whispered to myself.

"Jason?" She sat up groggily. How could she have heard me?

"Hey. You have a good sleep?"

"Yeah, but why'd you have to be so loud?"

I gave her a confused look. "All I did was whisper."

"Oh, then I must be a super sensitive sleeper."

"Hmm, I guess so. C'mon, get ready. I'll walk you to breakfast." I said with a smile. She smiled back.

I waited outside her cabin. 10 minutes later she came out in a Camp Half Blood t-shirt and jean cutoffs.

"You already have a t-shirt?"

"I found it in my drawer." I shrugged it off.

Campers started to wake up and were walking to the mess hall for breakfast. I held out my arm. I guess this was a tradition now to walk her to meals like this.

"Shall I walk you to breakfast?"

She laced her arm through mine. "You shall!" she said with a smile. We marched to the mess hall, ignoring the smirks on people's faces.

Maria's pov

We walked to breakfast arm in arm. I guess this was a tradition now.

We ignored all the smirks on the way there. Yeah, we're a couple, deal with it!

We walked into the mess hall and sat at the Zeus table. I still didn't want anyone to know my mom was Hera. How am I supposed to bring that up in a conversation? 'Um, hey guys. My mom visited me last night. By the way she's Hera!' Like, what the poop. And I thought they wouldn't like me. So far I've made friends with almost everyone I've seen. But still would they judge me or Mom because of it?

So I just sat at the Zeus table. Jason didn't seem to mind. We got our food and sacrificed a portion of it.

"Hey, mom." I whispered. "Thanks for claiming me. But I don't know how to tell people. Should I keep it a secret or tell?" I dumped most of my eggs and bacon off my plate.

"You get to start training!" Jason said with a smile.

"Training for what?"

He rolled his eyes. "Anything. We need to be prepared for anything, so we do demigod training."

"Hmm." I shoved half my pancake in my mouth. It was so delicious! Better than anything Ann has ever made. Oh wait, she's never made anything!

We finished eating and walked to the sword arena. there, we saw people fighting and some teaching other kids how to hold a sword.

"C'mon," he said, and tried to walk me to the people learning to hold a sword. That just seems boring and stupid!

"No!" He turned and looked at me with confusion.

"Then what do you want to do?"

I pointed to the people sword fighting. "That."

His eyes widened. "Combat? You've only been here a day, you'll die out there!"

"Then you fight me. You wont kill me, will you Jason?" I said with a pouty lip, then laughed.

"What? No! I can't fight my girlfriend!"

I blushed like crazy. "Girlfriend?"

He blushed. "Only if you want to be mine…"

"Of course!" I hugged him hard.

"No kiss?" he whispered in to my ear.

"Not here in front of everyone! Maybe later…"

I let go. He blushed again, then took my hand and started leading me towards the combat place.

We arrived at a rickety old shack. He opened the door. "Pick your weapon!" he said.

I searched the shack, but there was nothing good. Then, something caught my eye. I bent over and picked it up.

It was a two peacock feathers made out of gold. I looked on the back and saw there was a clip. It was a hair clip.

I pressed a button on the first one. It turned into a full sized sword.

"Wow!" I jumped back at the site of it. I pressed the button again and it turned back into a hair clip. I pressed the button on the other feather. It morphed into a gold bow and a quiver of arrows.

"I want this." I put in my hair, grabbed a dagger and stepped out of the shed.

"Peacock like your mom, eh?" Jason asked. He had been standing outside while I decided.

"Yeah. It's almost like it was put there just for me."

we arrived at the combat arena.

"Hey, we wanna battle!" Jason shouted to the head director guy of the sword fighting. The last people finished and walked out. He nodded and motioned for us to step inside.

"Where's your weapon?" I asked Jason. He pulled coin out of his pocket.

"Flip it one way and it's a sword, the other and it's an electronic spear," he smirked. I rolled my eyes. Does he really think he can show off by using a coin?

We walked into the middle of the arena. The guy blew his whistle and we drew our weapons. I changed my clip into a sword and Jason flipped his coin into a sword.

"I'll go easy on you," he smirked.

"No need to," I said and swung my sword. It missed him by an inch. He jumped back with his eyes wide, and looked at me. i smirked. then he smiled and we actually started combat.

He would slash, I would dodge. I would slash, he would block. We once held a block in the air. I held his gaze. I could tell he was lost in my eyes. I was lost in his too. I snapped out of it, and spun around. He slashed, I slashed, and then we were both at sword point.

"Good game, Jason," I said panting. I stabbed my sword into the dirt and fell on the ground.

"Good game, Maria," he said through breaths. The sun beat down on us. I felt like I was on fire.

Jason controlled the wind into a breeze, but it didn't really help.

"Man, I wish it was raining," and, it did. It started sprinkling, then pouring.

I held my mouth open and caught rain drops. Jason laughed and laid down next to me.

The combat director ran inside. Jason and I stayed laying on the ground, enjoying the rain.

"Is that later now?" he said with a smile.

"Maybe so." I could resist any longer. I kissed him. He kissed back, and put his hand on the back of my head. I separated our lips and laid my head on his chest, exhausted. The rain cooled me down, and eventually I fell asleep.

I woke up. I was perfectly dry. It was sunny, with a cool breeze. I laid on Jason's chest, who was looking up at the sky.

He smiled. "Hey," he said.

I couldn't resist smiling. "Hey."

We laid in the middle of the arena. No one was in combat. In fact, no one was in site.

I looked around. "Where is everyone?"

Jason glanced around. "I don't know."

I wanted to look around, but I was so comfortable here on Jason's chest, like the rest of the world didn't matter.

"We should probably scout around." Jason said.

"I know, but I don't wanna get up." I complained.

"Yeah, I'm pretty comfortable here too."

"Can we look later?" I asked. I didn't want to get up for anything.

"Sure." He pulled me in closer to him and draped his arm around me. Wow, I must be in heaven! Just his touch sent sparks through my body. I snuggled my head into his chest even more and fell asleep, again.

I woke up by whispering. I opened my eyes. Probably half the camp was standing around the arena, whispering and giggle with one another, pointing and looking at us. Some kids, probably children of Aphrodite, shot me dirty looks.

The snap of a picture.

"Well, well, well. It's only the second day and your already a couple!" It was Percy, holding a camera. He walked into the arena.

"Shut up, Percy." I mumbled. He put his hands up.

"Hey, I'm just saying the truth." He gave me a smirk.

I sat up. "Well c'mon now people, lets get moving!" I charmspoke them. They stopped in the middle of their conversations and dispersed. Percy reluctantly walked out of the arena.

I shook Jason awake after everyone was gone.

"Wha-" He sat up groggily.

"Nap time's over." I said gently. He nodded, and rose to his feet. He grabbed my hands then pulled me up.

"How long did we sleep?"

"I have no idea," I said. The sun was starting to set, so we must've sleep an hour or two.

"Maybe an hour or two." my stomach grumbled. "Is it time for dinner?" The sound of the horn cut me off.

"I guess it is." Without saying it, Jason held out his arm. I laced mine through it and we walked to dinner, together.

Jason's pov

We walked to dinner arm in arm. again, Maria sat at the Zeus table. I don't know why she's so afraid of people finding out her mom is Hera. She'll be the most famous person in camp!

I got my food and scraped some into the fire.

"Hey dad. I need some help. Can you help Maria have some confidence? I think she's afraid of telling people who her mom is. Will you help her?" I scraped half my chicken and mashed potatoes into the fire and sat down.

Maria had spaghetti. She slurped some into her mouth making this weird sound. When she saw the face I gave her, she laughed. I laughed along with her.

I looked into her eyes. Did they just flash silver? I don't know. I felt my heart do some kind of weird flip flop. Am I actually in love with her? Well, I don't really have to say it.

A voice came into my head.

Stay away from that girl. All that she brings is trouble.

I knew it was dad.

What the heck, dad! I'm in love with her! She could never cause any trouble! You just don't like her because she's Hera's daughter!

I screamed in my mind. No way was he ruining my relationship!

I am giving you caution. Accept or refuse it, remember I warned you.

Then he was gone.

Maria could see the look of rage on my face. "What's wrong?" she asked.

I just shook my head and smiled. "Nothing." I lied. She smiled again. I started eating, remembering dad's words…

Dinner was over, then we all dispersed. capture the flag wasn't till tomorrow night.

Maria and I held hands all the way to her cabin. I stopped at her front door.

"Here you go." I said.

She gave me a pleading look. "Will you at least keep me company for a while?"

"Fine," I gave in. She smiled and lead me into her cabin.

It looked exactly the same as it did before. Except the bed was made and stuff, the work of the cleaning harpies.

Maria took out her sword/bow and arrow pin out of her hair. Her hair tumbled down her shoulders in big curls. I stared at her in amazement.

"What?" she asked when she realized I was staring.

"Maria, you're really pretty."

She blushed a bit. "Thanks. No one's ever called me pretty before."

"No, you're beautiful."

"Well your very handsome." I blushed at her. She slung her arms around my neck and I put my hands on her waist. I wonder why dad was so worried about her. She would never hurt me, or anyone. Why would he say that?

"I want to show you something." Maria said.

"Okay."

She put my hand on her waist, then she put hers on my shoulder. She held my hand up and held it, then started swaying her body back and forth.

"Are you teaching me how to dance?" I asked. "I can't dance."

"Anyone can dance." She started moving her feet, and I looked at the floor the entire time to match her movements. Eventually I got the hang of it, and didn't have to stare at our feet anymore.

We waltzed around her room, smiling and talking. Time flew by. Once I glanced at her clock. It read midnight.

"It's midnight." I said.

"I don't care." She rested her head on my shoulder. I didn't care either. I didn't care what Dad said. All I cared about was right now.

Maria's pov

I love dancing, especially with other people. At about 1 am i started to fall asleep on Jason's shoulder, but my legs kept moving. He was slowing down, so I could tell he was tired.

"Why don't we go to bed." I said. Sleepily, nodded.

I walked him to his cabin. In the middle stood a HUGE statue of Zeus. Where ever I walked in the room his eyes seemed to follow me. I looked at the base of the statue. There was pictures and a bed made pressed up against the statue. I figured it was Jason's bed, and walked him to it. It was the only place in the entire cabin the statue's eyes didn't follow you.

I walked Jason to his bed and pulled his covers over him. He was still fully dressed. I mean, I wouldn't dress him! that's gross!

Thunder rumbled in the cabin. Jason smiled. "Guess dad doesn't like you very much."

"I don't care. He can suck it up." Jason chuckled at that. "Good night Jason." I kissed his cheek and he fell asleep.

"Well Zeus, I have an awesome boyfriend, and you're _NOT _getting in between us." I said to open space. I run to the door, fast enough that just in case I would dodge some lightning.

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**Hope y'all liked! This took me forever to write/edit, so I hope the work wasn't for nothing!**

**Enjoy! A new chapter will hopefully come out tomorrow, since it's Friday, but no promises it won't be tonight instead!**

**I'm kidding. Next chapter is tomorrow. That one was ****_long._****Right now, I'm gonna listen to music!**

**Laters-**

**~Aubz**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm so sorry! I haven't updated in forever. I'm kinda on writer's block, so updates may come less frequently. Thank you all for baring with me!**

**You're all lovely :)**

* * *

Maria's pov

We walked to breakfast arm in arm, like we always do. I continued to sit at the Zeus table. I didn't want to tell people until tonight at the campfire. I just don't know… should I or should I not? It would make my life so much easier if Hera would just 'reclaim' me tonight, but I know _that's_ never going to happen…

I got my pancakes, bacon and eggs and walked to the fire.

"Hey, Mom. It would be _really _nice if you could reclaim me tonight. Then it wouldn't be so awkward just saying, 'Hey guys, my mom is Hera!' You know what I mean? All I need is that symbol that was above my head the first time. That's all I'm asking for." I scraped all of my eggs, half my bacon and half my pancakes into the fire. It flared, like it was satisfied with the amount of food it got.

I sat down in front of Jason, who was eating his cereal slowly. He looked down at my plate and saw my half piece of bacon and my one pancake.

"big sacrifice?" He asked. I nodded. He continued eating, and I ate slowly. Then, we were off to training.

Today, I did real training to all the stations. I just went with Jason's schedule, since I didn't have one yet.

First we went to archery, which Jason sucks at. It's his first an least favorite station, so… that's crap for him.

I ended up scoring every shot I made. Who knew I had such good aim?! Every shot landed in the middle of the target, while Jason's didn't even hit it.

"Crap!" he would say under his breath. Then I would shoot and make a perfect shot. The rest of the campers stared at me in awe. Jason made a pouty face, then wiped it away with one of his charming smiles.

When archery was over, we walked all the way across camp to the stream, where Chiron taught us nature lessons.

Jason I walked to the class, hand in hand. Aphrodite girls shoot me dirty and jealous looks. I shot them one back and they stared at the ground. Yeah, that's right. You had your chance with him before I came along. Now it's my turn.

Jason noticed my stressed-out expression.

"What's up?" he asked. i sighed. I leaned against his arm and held onto it with my other hand. His skin was soft, but was hard with muscle.

"I wonder if mom could just reclaim me tonight, you know? It's really stressing me out about this whole talking in front of crowds thing," I whispered, making sure no one over heard.

"I could do it for you."

"No, it wouldn't be believable. I need mom to just reclaim me. She's the only one they'll believe."

"Well, then pray to your mom and hopefully she'll give you an answer. that's the only thing you can do."

i sighed again. "Yeah, I guess. And me being her only daughter, she'll probably get around to answering my prayers."

We arrived at nature lessons first. The class didn't start for 15 minutes, so we decided to walk around in the woods.

Five minutes later we were already deep enough in there we couldn't see the stream anymore.

"I can't see the stream anymore." I said.

"Maria," Jason said, gently touching my face.

"Yeah?" I asked blushing. I hope he kisses me! Gods, that sounded girly.

"Maria. I like you."

"I like you too Jason," I said moving a step closer.

"No, I really like you. Like, like like you."

"I couldn't say it any better." I leaned in, and so did he. We kissed for what seemed like hours, but it was probably 30 seconds. We separated. I looked into his eyes. He held my gaze. Then we kissed again.

The horn interrupted us, warning the campers that we had five minutes.

"Guess we should probably get back." Jason said.

"Does Chiron call roll before class starts?"

"No, he kind of just teaches whoever shows up. He doesn't really care."

"Then why don't we just take our time back?"

He thought for a moment, then smiled. "Okay, we'll take our time."

We started back, holding hands and talking. Eventually we reached the open clearing. We hid behind a rock so no one could see us. People were still bustling around, trying to get to their classes at the last minute. We snuck out from the rock when no one was watching. We separated our hands, not making too much of a show when we arrived at class.

There were only a few people there, sitting on logs in front of the river, waiting for class to start. Chiron stood in the front, greeting people as they arrived.

I still cant believe my history teacher is half horse.

Mostly, all the class was identifying plants and junk like that. I pretty much tuned it all out. Jason says that what he does too. That lasted for about an hour, an hour that I'll never get back.

"How do you stand doing that every single day?" I asked after the class was over.

"It's only every so often we do boring stuff like that. A lot of times, we go on hikes and stuff like that."

"Good, because I cant live through that."

Chiron clopped over to us. "Maria Johnson. Do you have a schedule yet?"

"No, Mr. Bru- I mean Chiron. I've just been following Jason's."

I was still getting used to the whole Chiron thing.

"Very well. Continue doing that. No point in making a new schedule if we don't have to."

After he trotted away, I smiled at Jason. He smiled back.

"So where to next?" I asked.

Jason thought for a bit, then smiled. "Strawberry fields."

* * *

Jason's pov

We arrived at the strawberry fields. satyrs were scattered around, playing music on their reed pipes.

"What do we do?" Maria asked.

"We just grab a bucket," I said, grabbing two and handing one to her, "and start picking."

We started in about the middle of the field and worked our way down. While doing so, we passed a satyr.

Maria gasped. "KEVIN!" she nearly shouted as she gathered him into a hug. He looked like he was about to suffocate. I felt a twang of jealousy billow in my chest. I don't know why though. Obviously she had known this guy a while, but still. Him being a guy, and her hugging him like that… ugh.

"What are you doing here? You're not a demigo…" She looked down at his legs, realizing they weren't human. Her eyes widened. She turned to me. "Goat legs. Of course, goat legs," she mumbled as she proceeded to faint. She fell into me. I lowered her to the ground.

"Got any water?" I asked Kevin. He handed me a 3/4 full bottle. I opened it and dumped the contents onto Maria's face.

Well, you could say that wasn't the best idea.

She gasped. Her eyes opened wide. "JASON!" she screamed. "Why the heck did you pour water on me?!" she shouted, trying to unsuccessfully wipe the water off of her.

"You're the one that fainted…" I mumbled under my breath. Obviously she heard me, because she scowled. So, I changed the subject. "Would you mind telling me who this is?"

Maria's eyes lit up. "This is Kevin; my best friend from school."

My heart slightly fell as she said that. I was her boyfriend. Aren't I supposed to be her best friend? Or was she supposed to only like me for romantic reasons? I'm new to this girl thing…

Seeing my expression, Maria corrected herself. "I mean he's my only friend from school, but nothing else." My heart felt a bit better after that.

Maria turned back to Kevin. "Now would you mind explaining to me why you have _GOAT LEGS?!_" she nearly shouted. I would _not _want to be the one on the receiving end of that glare.

"I'm a satyr," he replied sheepishly. I felt bad for him. His best friend didn't even recognize what he was.

"Since when?!" she shouted. "When were you gonna tell me?!"

"When you got to camp…"

She backed off a bit. "Oh. You should still warn me of these things though! Do you know how terrifying it was to see my best friend of five years with goat legs?! You could've said, 'Hey Maria! I'm not actually human, I'm half goat!'"

"You would've believed that?" he said skeptically with a smirk.

"Maybe not… but I would like warning in the future. I don't think anything could surprise me now-"

But Maria was cut off by the conch. "Lunch already?" I glanced up at the sun, and sure enough it was past noon.

"I guess so." Maria hugged Kevin again. "See you after lunch."  
We walked away, arm in arm.

* * *

Maria's pov

The rest of the day went quickly. Lunch, first aid, tree climbing (yep, tree climbing. I was a pro), and then dinner. Next was… Capture the flag! I was excited.

The team leader, meaning Percy for blue, and a daughter of Ares named Clarisse for red. Jason and I were blue, with Percy, Athena, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hades, and the Hermes cabins. The red team was Ares, Apollo, Hecate, and Hestia cabins.

Percy and Annabeth devised a plan, and we set off.

I was to climb a tree near the creek, while Jason stood on the ground, protecting our flag, which was right below me.

I climbed at least 20 ft. before I stopped. I transformed my hairclip into a bow and quiver.

Below, Hermes' kids rushed past, setting traps and other contraptions to throw of the red team. They sent grins at Jason, who shook his head and smiled back. None acknowledged me.

I'm invisible to them

I realized. This is perfect. Now, Red team won't have any idea what hit them until they're shoot with an arrow from an invisible archer.

A few red helmets could be seen through the trees, but nothing slow enough that I could shoot at.

Suddenly, an army of 5 campers in red helmets emerged from the trees, screaming battle cries. But, they were sloppy and unorganized, too arrogant that they charged towards Jason and the flag.

"Stupid Ares kids," I mumbled, taking aim. My first two shots, I took out two. The others looked around, confused, which gave me time to take down another. Jason took take of one, but had his hands full. The last one charged towards the flag. I didn't have time to take aim before he fell flat on his face.

"What?" I whispered, confused. Then I saw it. "Typical." A trip wire, set up by the Hermes cabin. I laughed silently to myself. Typical Ares kids, attacking before having a set plan.

Jason finished the last camper. He looked up at me and smiled. I returned it.

Arrows sprung out of the woods. They flew in the air, then landed in the ground near his feet. One caught him in the arm.

"Jason!" I whispered sharply, yet I didn't want to caught.

The mystery archers emerged from the woods. There were three of them, all blonds. Children of Apollo. Curse his freaking good aim!

I shot at the, taking out one. They looked at my tree in confusion, then started firing. None hit me, but just whizzed past a foot or two from me.

"An invisible archer is better than an easy target," I whispered, taking aim. I hit the second one.

Jason swung his sword at the third. He easily ducked, because the arrow was imbedded in Jason's sword arm. The pain was obvious on his face. I wanted so badly to jump down and help him, but that would blow my cover.

I changed my bow into a sword. I know, what is a sword gonna do from 30 ft up? Well, a lot apparently.

It was a long shot, but I threw my sword at the Apollo kid. He didn't even notice the sword hurtling towards him.

The butt of the sword hit him in the temple, knocking him out cold.

I jumped down out of my tree, and rushed to Jason. He knelt on the ground, his free hand clutching his arm. Blood flowed like a little river out of the wound. His face was tight with pain, eyes squeezed shut.

"Oh gods, Jason!" I screamed/shouted.

"I'm fine," he uttered quietly.

"You are _not _fine, Jason Grace. Come here." I pulled a canteen of nectar out of my pocket, and put it on the wound, then gave him the rest to drink.

His face slowly calmed into a normal state. The bleeding stopped.

"Hun, we need to get that arrow out of there." I think he already knows that, though.

"I know, but that's gonna hurt, _a lot._"

"Here," I extracted some ambrosia from my other pocket. "Eat this, and it won't hurt as much." These first aid classes were really paying off!

"Fine," he sighed. He took the cube, ate it, then braced himself.

"Ready?"

"Just do it."  
As gently and as quickly as possible, I pulled the arrow out. Jason yelped, stifling a screamed.

I kissed his cheek. "You did well." I ripped a piece of my jean shorts off, and tied it around the wound, which was healing quickly.

There was a rustling in the bushed behind us. My back stiffed, as I slowly turned.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Jason's little girlfriend helping. Too lovey-dovey for my liking." A red helmeted boy emerged from the bushes. He swung his sword, and for a millisecond I froze.

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**Please please review!**

**~Aubz**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys... I'm so sorry I haven't updated in forever... and that I left the last chapter on a cliff hanger... You probably hate me... If you're still willing to read this and you don't hate me, here's another chapter!**

**You're all lovely :)**

* * *

Jason's pov

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Jason's little girlfriend helping. Too lovey-dovey for my liking." Connor, a child of Ares, emerged from the bushes. Maria stiffly turned, right before he swung his sword. She froze, but then realized her sword was right at her feet. As he was about to skewer her, she dropped and rolled. In the process, she grabbed her sword. I rolled to the side, and all Connor's sword hit was the ground.

My wound was almost completely healed, so I picked up my sword.

Connor was surrounded. For a second, he looked frightened, but then his devious smile was back.

"Ha. You think you can defeat me? I'm a son of Ares! I never loose. I will kill you both." He looked at Maria. "Though, I wouldn't mind sparing you." He winked.

Now _that _made me mad. Maria gave him a disgusted face.

"Anything but," she said, swinging her sword. He just barely blocked it, but got a good sized cut on his cheek.

"Oh, a feisty one." He winked again. "I like feisty."

"Back off my girlfriend!" I shouted and swung at him.

"Why do you get her?!" he whined. "I deserve her!" His sword cut my shirt, grazing my skin. It didn't hurt, but Maria was ready to kill this guy. Her eyes turned their black color, and flashed with fire.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY!" she screamed. She kicked him to the ground, her foot on his chest. His eyes went wide when he witnessed her fiery eyes. "I'm with him because I don't want to end up with someone like you!" Her sword almost impaled him, but was cut off by a joyous shout.

Maria's sword stopped two inches from his chest, and turned. We all turned. Percy and Annabeth splashed across the creek, red flag in hand.

"WHOOOOO!" they cried. Maria's eyes turned back to their regular blue, and smiled.

"YEAH!" she screamed back.

Connor, still on the ground, pouted loudly. Maria sent him a victorious smirk. "That's what you get," her arm went around my shoulders, mine around her waist, "when you mess with me or my friends." She glared at him, her eyes turning black for a second. He scampered away.

Maria laughed at him. "What a coward. Got defeated by a girl, a daughter of _Hera _none the less," she smirked.

We had forgotten Percy and Annabeth standing right there. Their mouths were gaping. "A daughter of _Hera_?" Percy stammered.

Maria went pale, but it was too late to take it back. "Yes, a daughter of Hera. She claimed me last night," she nearly whispered.

"We gotta tell people!" Percy beamed. "HEY GUYS MARIA'S-" he shouted.

"Shut up! Don't tell anyone!" Maria whispered-screamed.

"Why not? It explains why you can do amazing things?" Annabeth chimed in.

" Because Mom's going to claim me again tonight, to make it believable," she said confidently.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I know Mom. She will." Maria smiled.

"You've meet her once." I said skeptically.

We all laughed. "Seriously. I've said plenty of prayers, and I'm her only demigod child. I think she'll answer them. It was just a simple task, making a symbol appear above my head."

"Well, it is time for the camp fire, so we'll see," Percy said. We all walked towards the fire.

Maria's pov

When I think of a camp fire, I think of a normal fire in a fire pit.

But nothing is normal at Camp Half-Blood.

The fire was at least six ft tall, and reflected people's emotions, so it's always multicolored.

We sat down on the first row, right next to the fire.

Please Mom, reclaim me.

I thought. There was no point in promising my friends something and then not giving it to them.

After the singing of songs, we were about to disperse.

A collective gasp around us. I could feel the stares, but not on me, above my head.

"Hera kept her promise," Jason whispered, then acted surprised. I pretended to not know what was going on.

"What? What's happening?" I questioned.

"Can it be?" Chiron whispered. That shut everybody up.

"What? Can it be what?" I asked.

"A fulfillment of the prophesy," he whispered.

Now I wasn't acting surprised. "What prophesy?"  
"There has never been a demigod of Hera. You are an only child, a fulfillment to the Great Prophesy."

"I'm still not getting it"… I'm so confused. What prophesy is he talking about?  
"I'll just get Rachel. Rachel!" he called.

A girl who I'm guessing was Rachel ran over. She had bouncy red hair, and startling green eyes.

"Hi!" She stuck her hand out. "I'm Rachel".

I took her hand and shook it. "Maria, daughter of Hera."

Rachel's eyes widened. She looked at Chiron, who nodded.

"Rachel is the camp Oracle, meaning she gives us prophesies for quests and whatnot," Chiron explained. "A few weeks ago," he continued, "she said a prophesy of an only child that will lead a great quest. It is the Great Prophesy, nothing like it has never. Well, a child like you has never been born."

I stayed silent, but I had a question.

"What was the prophesy? Can I hear it?"

Chiron signaled Rachel.

Green smoke billowed out of the Oracle's mouth, and her eyes glowed green. She sputtered words in a voice that wasn't hers.

An only child shall lead a quest

to put her powers to the test

A new demigod shall arrive

one that wields fire

like the only child's eyes

Five shall go on this quest

This quest to see to see

where their limits are truly met

The son and daughter

of the King and Queen

shall seal their love

with a ring

Rachel collapsed to the ground.

I was frozen. I've only been at camp for two days and I'm already leading a quest! But at least it won't be happening any time soon, because we had to wait for other camper to arrive.

Then the last three lines. The son and daughter of the King and Queen, that had to mean Jason and I, son and daughter of Hera and Zeus. A ring. That meant getting married, doesn't it? But we've only been dating for a few days! That's insane! Surely it doesn't mean that.  
No time to think about that now. I need to focus on the problem at hand. The new demigod arriving, and who the five people will be.

"Does that mean I have to choose the people for this quest?" I asked.

Chiron nodded. "Right now you may choose three, and the last one will be this fire wielder."

I already knew my three. "I choose Jason, Percy, and Annabeth to join me in this quest," I stated. Looking back at my future companions, they smiled, showing acceptance.

Chiron looked towards the said three. "Do you all accept this quest?" he asked.

"Yes," they said in unison. I was excited. My first quest, with three of my closest friends.

"Well, then who is the new demigod? I'm the newest, so I'm guessing we have to wait on a new one to arrive?" I asked, hope in my voice. I _really _didn't want to leave tonight. I need some mental preparation for this.

"You all will leave the morning after the new demigod arrives," Chiron stated. I internally sighed in relief.

"Shall we continue with the campo fire?" Chiron shouted. The camp erupted in to roars.

We sang a few more songs, and then dispersed. Jason walked me back to my cabin, his hand in mine.

"Looks like Hera kept her promise," he said.

I chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so," I said quietly.

Jason stopped walking, and grabbed me by the shoulders. "What's wrong?" he asked, worry evident in his features.

I couldn't hold back. Tears filled my eyes. "I'm terrified, Jason! I don't know how to get by in the real world alone, much less lead a freaking quest!" The tears spilled down my cheeks, my eyes probably turning navy blue.

Jason saw the change in eye color, and wrapped me up in a hug. "Everyone's afraid for their first quest. It's normal."  
"No it's not!" I shouted. "No one normal _leads _a quest on their _second day _at camp! Face it, I'm not normal. I'll never fit in." Where are these words coming from? I have no idea.

"Maria! You need to calm down. You're talking crazy. You're perfectly normal, and who cares what other people think, or how long you've been here, or who your mom is? All that matters is that you're here, with me, with the camp. We'd all dead if it weren't for you. Remember that dragon? _You _killed it, and if you hadn't, we couldn't of killed it. Camp would be in ashes, and most of us would be dead. You're better than normal, you're _amazing._" Jason's words hit my heart, breaking the invisible barrier of fear that covered it.

"You really think so?" I asked, drying my tears and looking up at him.

"I know so." He wrapped me in another hug, then planted a soft kiss on my lips.

No doubt my eyes were silver. He chuckled that charming laugh of his. I laughed back.

The sound of the horn for lights out sounded.

"Guess we should get going," Jason nearly whispered. I nodded.

We hurried back to the cabins. He gave me a kiss on the forehead, then rushed off to his cabin before the harpies would find us. I entered my lonely cabin, wishing I was still back at the campfire with my friends. It was so _quiet _in here. In any other cabin (except Jason's or Percy's), campers would probably prefer a cabin like mine, but when they got it, they would regret the decision.

I changed clothes, brushed my teeth, and laid down, staring at the ceiling. After about 20 minutes of doing so, I decided I couldn't sleep. So, I got up, walked out of my cabin, and walked down to the beach. The stars were especially bright, lighting up the sky like millions of far away candles. The candles reflected in my eyes, making them twinkle. It was a feeling of security, knowing that I could walk outside in the middle of the night and do this. This would _never _happen in New York. You could barely even see the stars there, with all the lights and pollution 24/7. Here, it looked like the Milky Way. I let out a sigh. "Thank you," I whispered to no one in particular. I was saying thanks to everyone for everything. For taking me away from that monster they disguised as my step-mother, for giving me friends and a boyfriend, for letting me witness the stars, because it might be my last time I could from Camp Half Blood.

I laid down on the sand, gazing up at the full moon. It was beautiful too. Artemis must've been happy for giving such a full and bright moon. I thanked her too.

Your welcome,

a voice whispered. I looked around, but saw no one. Must've been Lady Artemis in my head.

A sudden burst of light out of the corner of my eye ripped my attention away from the stars. It wasn't just a sudden burst of light. Something was on fire.

Someone

was on fire.

I sat up from my spot on the sand. The figure dance a bit, their entire body aflame. They jumped into the sound, about 100 ft away from me. The water boiled at the touch. They sank down, their entire body going under.

And they stayed like that.

After about a minute, I jumped up, and ran to the spot. The water still bubbled, and I could vaguely see the figure. I thought about pulling them out, but them logic hit me:

My arm will be roasted if I do this.

But then again, I can shoot fire, so shouldn't I be heat resistant?  
Heck with it. I thrust my hand in.

It hurt like Hades.

As quickly as possible, I grabbed their shirt and heaved them out. They lay on the sand, smoking. I examined my arm; even though it felt like it was bring burned off, it was perfectly unharmed.

Now, the body on the sand.

I rolled them over. With every touch, excruciating heat and pain traveled up my arms. My brain told me _you can do this! _while my arms told me _run away you idiot!_

Still, I gazed down at the figure.

It was a boy, my age or a little younger. He wore jeans, a white t-shirt, and a green army jacket. He looked Hispanic, with elf-like features.

He moaned, and his eyes fluttered open. His chocolate brown eyes landed on me.

"Where am I?" he asked. This kid was taking it A LOT better than I did.

"I'll explain that later. What's your name?" I asked.

"Leo," he answered. He wasn't one to elaborate.

"And, um… what was that earlier? Did the dragon accidentally set you on fire?" but once I said it, I knew it wasn't true. He couldn't of come out of that unharmed.

Dread started to well up inside me. Was this the-

"Actually, I managed to set myself on fire. It came out of nowhere, but I didn't even feel it. How do you explain _that_?"

Crap.

My suspicions were correct.

I took a few steps away from him. We were leaving _tomorrow._ The morning after the fire wielder came.

I dropped to my knees, almost ready to puke. _I wish Jason was here, _I thought. _He would know how to calm me down in a situation like this. _

But Jason wasn't here to rescue me. I had to take matters into my own hands.

"Um… you okay?" Leo asked, seeing me turn pale all of this sudden.

"Fine…" I breathed, even though I clearly wasn't.

"I don't think you are. Is there like a nurse here somewhere? Maybe a paramedic?" He began turning his head back and forth, searching.

I stood. "I'm fine. Let's take you to Chiron." I started walking away. Leo stumbled up off the sand and trailed behind.

"Who's Chiron?" I rolled my eyes. This was going to be a lot of explaining.

"Camp director. He kinda watches over us, since a lot of us don't have mortal parents."

Leo stopped walking. "What do you mean mortal? And how do you know my mom died?"

I sighed. "You've heard myths about the Greek gods, no?"

He nodded.

"It might seem stupid, but they're real. And you're a son of Greek god Hephaestus. Your mom was your mortal parent, making you a half god/half mortal, or a demigod."

Someone, that wasn't Leo, grabbed my hand. I whipped around, just to see Jason with a smug expression on his face.

"What are you doing out here?" I whispered.

"Same reason as you- couldn't sleep," he replied. Then, to Leo, he said, "I'm Jason. And you are…?"

"Leo. Son of Hephaestus, apparently. And how she knew that," Leo said, pointing at me, "I have no idea."

We all knew the last child of the prophecy had to be a child of Hephaestus. He's the only god that had a few children with fire wielding powers. It was very rare, but still possible.

Jason looked at me with wide eyes, then at my half- charred clothes.

"Is he…?" he asked. I nodded. Realization seemed to wash over him. "We need to get you to Chiron."

"We're not going anywhere unless you tell me what the heck is going on," Leo protested.

I heaved a sigh. "There was this prophecy, or a poem telling the future," I explained, "that said a fire wielder will show up at camp the night before we go. Since you're the only person that has fire powers, other than me, in sight, we guess it's you."

Leo's jaw was on the ground. "So you're telling me I'm part of some great fortune teller poem thingy, and we're leaving _tomorrow_?"

Jason and I nodded.

Leo grinned a creepy/goofy/had-too-much-coffee grin. "Well then lets go!" He started leading the way like he knew where he was going, then stopped. "Where's Chiron?" he asked. Jason and I laughed a little, then started to walk along with him.


End file.
